


A Different Life

by MysticMedusa



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Curses, Dark Thor, Fluff and Angst, Good Loki, M/M, Magic, Parallel Universes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-21 22:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9569915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticMedusa/pseuds/MysticMedusa
Summary: a blue alien claiming to be the king of Jotunhiem appears in Tony's tower. When Tony decides to let him stay things get weirder when Tony scans his magic and Thor is mentioned





	

Tony was in his lab when JARVIS alerted him to the sudden arrival of a strange humanoid in the common room. The other avengers were out for missions except Thor was currently off world. He called the suit before heading to the common room where true to JARVIS’s word was a human shaped form collapsed on the floor. He carefully approached to see whoever they were they were blue with raised lines along their body and beautiful long raven colored hair that was tied into a braid that reached their lower back.

“J scan him and tell me if he’s still alive.”

Tony wasn’t getting close to some random alien without being careful. After seeing what Thor could do he was better off assuming they were all strong like him. This blue alien wasn’t muscular like Thor but still, Loki didn’t look all that strong either but he was certainly able to stand up against Steve.

“Sir he appears to be alive but I would recommend not touching him.”

“Why?”

“His body temperature runs extremely low. If you touch him with the suit I suspect it will freeze over and if you touch him without it will freeze your skin off.”

He kept his distance and studied the strange alien. He was wearing a simple dark grey tunic with black pants and boots. He moved a bit to get a better look and saw there was a ring of the raised lines on his forehead and his first thought was that they looked like a crown. As he was staring the alien’s eyes flickered open to reveal ruby red eyes that were oddly attractive.

“Ag…wh-where am I?”

Tony stared at the alien that was slowly getting up as he carefully studied his surroundings.

“Morning snowflake, you’re currently in my house and I would just love to know why.”

The alien looked up at him and seemed taken aback by the sight of the armor.

“I know not why I am here just as I know not what realm I reside in. I was only attempting to outrun the monster that wished my death.”

Tony studied him a moment before he lifted the face-plate of his suit. The alien stared wide eyed as he dared to move closer to look at his face.

“I have never seen one such as yourself. What are you?”

Tony raised a brow seeing that the alien didn’t seem to be aggressive.

“Tony Stark, human and hero of earth but I guess the rest of the worlds know it as Midgard.”

The alien’s eyes widened as he looked around before wrapping his arms around himself.

“I cannot survive in this realm…” He looked down at his hands in shock. “I can’t teleport either…not back to my realm. Have you somehow limited my magic?”

“Didn’t do anything to you snowflake. You just showed up. Why is it a problem for you to be in this realm?”

The alien looked at him again.

“I am not made to survive these temperatures. My home is much colder than here and if I remain for to long I was suffer.”

Tony thought that over.

“Alright first, I need a name otherwise I’m going to keep calling you snowflake. Also I hope you’re a friendly alien because otherwise we’re going to have issues. I can probably get one of the extra bedrooms to be a temperature you can handle. Might not be perfect but good enough.”

The alien stared at him in disbelief.

“Thank you, you are most kind.” The alien stood up before he gave a slight bow in greeting. “I am Loptr, king of Jotunhiem.”

Tony was glad he went with the friendlier approach. Didn’t want to start a war with an alien planet because he decided to be his usual asshole self.

“Alright your majesty, let’s go. Is there a way for you to work your magic so you don’t accidentally freeze my skin off? I kind of did a scan on you while you were passed out and you’re much colder than us humans.”

Loptr looked at himself considering it a moment as they took the elevator up.

“I can perhaps use my magic to ensure I do not accidentally harm you. It will take some time. If you are allowing me a place to stay until I may return home I have the means to ensure my space is to a temperature that will not harm me.”

“Ok sure, that’s awesome.”

He showed him the extra room in the penthouse because he sure as hell wasn’t letting the alien royalty out of his sight. When they entered the room Loptr looked around with a curious gaze.

“It is quite spacious, thank you. I am curious though why you are being so kind to me when you do not know me. I could have been a dangerous being and yet you greet me with kindness.”

Tony shrugged.

“Honestly I’m not known for making the best decisions and I kind of have a habit of doing what I want. I was curious and I figured I’d have a better chance not shooting you when I don’t know you.”

Loptr smiled.

“You are an interesting creature Tony Stark. Might I suggest you close the face of your armor so you are not accidentally harmed when I change the room?”

He stepped back and closed the face-plate. He watched and scanned what Loptr did to check out how his magic worked later. He saw a glowing blue box appear in his hands as he used it to freeze the room from top to bottom. He carefully avoided freezing over the furniture but according to the readings in the suit the room was chilled closer to his temperature. The box vanished when he was done and he turned to ensure Tony was alright.

“I will attempt to adjust my temperature and perhaps be able to survive this realm so I do not trouble you longer than need be. I am hoping whatever is wrong with my magic allows me to return home before I overstay my welcome.”

“Hey stay as long as you need. Just going to have to let the rest of the team know you’re here. Hey can you let me study your magic? We have a few magic villains here and it would help to have some magic to study and hopefully make a solution to them.”

Loptr frowned with a look of concern and Tony thought maybe he’d crossed the line.

“I fear studying my magic will not help you. My magic is different than the magic of the mages of this realm. You can study it if you wish; I am in your debt for your aid. I just do not wish to give you false hope.”

“Well we can try. For now get settled in, if you need anything let JARVIS know. He’s my AI and he keeps tabs on everything going on.”

Loptr bowed again with his thanks before Tony left the alien to work on his magic. When Tony got out of his suit he looked over the footage of Loptr’s arrival. It looked like he’d just appeared in a flash of blue. The scans JARVIS always ran didn’t show anything out of the ordinary and when he began studying the scans of  what Loptr did to the room it didn’t show anything either. It was odd especially since he’d scanned Loki’s magic before and it at least showed something.

He was still trying to figure out if something was wrong with his scans when JARVIS informed him that Loptr was requesting food. Tony left the lab but paused when he caught sight of the clock.

“Holy shit it’s been four hours, how did I lose that much time? J go ahead and order us a pizza. I’m not sure what he eats but everyone loves pizza.”

He figured he could eat with his guest but that meant layering up because that room was freezing. He had on layers of clothing and a scarf when he arrived at the room with pizza and soda.

“Hey Loptr, not sure what you can eat but this is one of our world’s specialties.” He said grinning.

“I should be fine with whatever you have brought. I do apologize if I am being a bother but I believe I may be able to adjust my body temperature to ensure I do not harm you.”

“Well we’ll have J do a scan first because I like my skin where it is. For now, you need to try pizza.”

He and Loptr sat down on the bed to eat and the king hummed his agreement with the food.

“It is quite flavorful, my home does not have such tasteful food.”

He was already four slices in and Tony was wondering if he should have ordered two instead of the one.

“So Jotunheim only has bland food?”

The king nodded.

“I’m afraid so, we do not have the option for many seasonings as not much grows in our realm. I have often wished to see Midgard because I heard of their variety of foods but when I took the throne my chance slipped away.”

Tony ate the last bite of his pizza wondering if the other worlds’ royalty ever met. He decided against asking if he knew Thor and decided to focus on other things.

“So I did a scan and your magic doesn’t show up like Loki’s.”

Loptr raised a brow.

“I do not know who this Loki is but I’m afraid I know nothing of Midgard’s technology to explain why you cannot scan my magic.”

“Well I have my equipment in the lab if you think you can leave your icy fortress long enough to let me try and scan your magic there.”

“Of course, I am in your debt so I am more than happy to allow you to scan me anywhere.”

The king followed him to the lab and when they entered the king’s eyes grew to a new size. Tony chuckled as he got things set up.

“Your lab is quite magnificent. Do all humans have such wonderful homes like this?”

Dum-E went over to greet the newcomer and the king looked startled by the bot.

“What is this?”

“That’s Dum-E, he’s just saying hi. He likes new people.”

Loptr laughed as he looked at the bot.

“What a fascinating creation. You said he likes new people but he does not appear to be a living creature. How does a creature like this feel?”

“Just because he’s a robot doesn’t mean he can’t like people. That’s just rude.” Tony teased making the king smile.

“My apologies then, I hope you may forgive me Dum-E. I fear I do not quite understand such things of Midgard.”

The bot nudged Loptr as though telling him it was alright. While Tony got everything set up Loptr and Dum-E apparently became best friends. Noticing the bot wasn’t getting frozen Tony looked over.

“Hey J, did Loptr fix the whole freeze people thing?”

“It would appear King Loptr’s temperature has changed so that it is safe for people.”

Loptr looked around for the source of the voice.

“Another of your creations?”

Tony nodded.

“Yeah, that’s JARVIS. He’s super cool.”

Loptr smiled as he looked at the ceiling where JARVIS’s voice had come from.

“It is a pleasure to meet you JARVIS.”

“Thank you, it’s a pleasure to meet a mage that doesn’t try to kill Sir with windows.”

Tony shot one of JARVIS’s sensors a look.

“One time Loki throws me through a window and I still don’t hear the end of it. Very rude J, don’t be telling new guests like it’s a normal occurrence.”

“Sorry Sir, I was just happy he wasn’t trying to kill you like the last mage that was in the tower.”

Loptr laughed at their exchange and Tony decided he could get use to the king if he had to stay awhile. He had a nice laugh.

“Alright Loptr, let’s get this scan done.”

The king stood where he told him to and again the scans didn’t show up even when Loptr used his magic. It didn’t make sense and Tony was wondering if someone had messed with his system.

“Hey Loptr, what’s with those lines on your body?” He asked while he looked over his systems to make sure they hadn’t been tampered with.

“Ah, they are tribal markings to show my bloodline. Mine is the bloodline of Jotunhiem’s royal family.”

Tony glanced at the king seeing the lines that weren’t just on his face.

“Can I see them? I mean I can see the ones on your face but it looks like they’re more.”

Loptr looked uneasy as he gripped his right arm.

“I’m afraid to show you would mean showing a much less pleasant sight. I have recently suffered an injury and though my body can heal just about any injury…this one will not heal.”

Tony moved away from his system now seeing the pained look on the king’s face.

“Hey if you’re hurt you should have said so. I’m not a doctor but enough of the team gets injured that I can at least do some basic care until Bruce gets back.”

Loptr hesitated a moment longer before he sighed.

“I should not be so fearful of showing an injury but I suppose it’s due to how I was injured.”

He stripped off the tunic and Tony’s eyes widened as he rushed forward seeing the king’s entire side looking like he’d suffered severe burns. It didn’t look like a normal wound though with how it looked.

“What happened?”

Loptr looked sad as he touched the wound.

“I was betrayed by my betrothed. I had expected him to never wish to see me after I failed to protect his father in the battle against the dark elves…we have known each other for so long I did not expect him to attack me. If I had not turned the last moment I am certain the damage to my back would have prevented me from escaping.”

Tony wanted to beat the shit out of the monster that struck Loptr. He tore his gaze from the king’s wounds to see the pained expression from the betrayal.

“I’m sorry…he’s an asshole to have done this to you. When the others get here I’ll make sure they know not to let anyone hurt you while you’re here.”

Loptr smiled weakly as he thanked him.

“I do not deserve your kindness but I do appreciate it. You mentioned wanting to see my tribal markings.”

Tony looked to see the lines that went down Loptr’s chest to his stomach and all the way to his hips. He couldn’t help but reach out and touch the lines. Loptr’s body was still cold but it didn’t hurt to touch it.

“Humans are much warmer than the Jotun.” The king commented not seeming to mind the touches.

“You’re still pretty cold and your skin is harder than a human’s.”

Tony finally stopped tracing the lines to let Loptr redress. With an awkward silence left from seeing the wound Tony decided he would worry about the system later.

“So never been to Midgard, want to do something? I mean we’re kind of limited because well aliens aren’t to common here. Not blue ones anyways.”

“Do you have a suggestion?”

“Well we can do things in the tower. I mean I have an entire entertainment floor. We have movies, games, a giant pool, and anything we don’t have I can get.”

Loptr raised a brow in curiosity.

“I have never experienced these things; perhaps we may try them all?”

Tony was grinning as he led the king to the entertainment floor. First up was movies which he found a few that were pretty popular with the avengers. They had movie night as per Steve’s request as a team building exercise. They managed three movies before they decided to call it a day. The next day after eating Tony decided to show Loptr the pool which the king found he liked. Tony watched from the side as the king swam around the pool that dropped several degrees when he’d begun swimming. When Loptr had swam a few laps the king looked at Tony just sitting there with a confused look on his face.

“You do not wish to enjoy the pool?”

Tony felt that sinking feeling he got whenever he felt like he wasn’t going to be able to avoid a subject he’d rather not talk about. He hesitated before he remembered Loptr being open about his wound. It looked really bad still but the wound wasn’t open yet he could see Loptr look uncomfortable about it.

“I use to love the pool but…I can’t be submerged under water now. I had a bad experience a while back that prevents me from going near water like this.”

Loptr pulled himself from the pool and Tony found himself looking over his very attractive form. Best not to get bad ideas about alien royalty. When he found Loptr staring at him Tony felt slightly uneasy.

“Someone has harmed you?”

Tony shifted uncomfortably as he shrugged.

“Nothing new. So video games?” He asked attempting to change the subject.

Loptr seemed upset by the sudden change but nodded. The king showered and dressed in the clothing Tony had ordered for him before sleeping the night before. He’d been given black slacks and a shirt that matched the color of his eyes. Tony was waiting for him and tossed him a controller which he stared at confused.

“Come on, I’ll explain how to play. Hopefully if Clint returns from his mission he doesn’t scare you off of games forever.”

Loptr was quick to learn as he began ruthlessly beating Tony at every game they played. Tony had decided on a team game when he realized he couldn’t beat the king.

“Sir, the other avengers are returning within the hour from their mission.” The AI informed him.

“Cool, order Chinese to arrive shortly before they do. We can eat and party while they meet Loptr.”

When food arrived Tony and Loptr were once again focused on the game as they took down the enemy team and cheered for their victory. The elevator opened just as they cheered and the avengers were shocked when they saw Tony not only not buried in machinery in his lab but actually playing video games he always teased Clint for enjoying. Their eyes drifted to Loptr with a suspicious gaze.

“Hey guys, so this is Loptr who just so happens to be king of Jotunhiem. Join us for Chinese?”

Steve raised a brow, Clint waved to Loptr before grabbing food and sitting on the couch, and Natasha was silently looking the king over. Loptr met her gaze before he looked to Tony.

“Your friend appears to not like me.”

Tony shrugged as he sat down to grab a container of food.

“She’s like that with everyone. Don’t mind her but try not to piss her off. She can kill people with her ankles.”

Loptr looked impressed as he met Natasha’s gaze again.

“I was unaware there were so many humans with such interesting skills. I fear my idea of your realm was off quite a bit.”

Natasha was still watching him as Steve sighed.

“Tony did you at least tell Fury that you’re housing an alien king?”

“Nope, look it’s fine. He’s just trying to get his magic to work so he can go back to his realm.”

“You don’t know if he’s lying Tony. We should at least ask Thor if he knows him.” Natasha suggested causing Loptr to choke on his food.

Tony looked over at him just as the king shot to his feet.

“Thor? Y-you know Thor?” The king was trembling now and everyone looked alarmed.

“Loptr what’s wrong?” Tony asked concerned as he reached out for the king.

“Sir don’t touch him, his body temperature is dangerously low.” JARVIS warned making Tony withdrawal his hand so quickly the others were concerned.

When Loptr reached for the wound on his side Tony’s eyes widened.

“Thor did that to you?”

Loptr nodded slowly as tears welled up in his eyes but froze when they fell.

“I-I couldn’t protect him…Odin was my friend…he saved my world…he was the one who…who allowed me to be betrothed to Thor…to unite our worlds when we had been enemies.”

Tony felt like something wasn’t right here. Thor had left only a day or so before Loptr appeared and he hadn’t said anything about Odin being injured or dead. Also Loptr spoke like he knew their family really well but didn’t know the youngest prince.

“Loptr tell me about Thor.”

The king looked over his body still shaking.

“He is King of Asgard…Odin fought for Asgard because they needed a general but Thor was so new to being king he could not risk him leading their warriors. I failed to protect Odin when we fought the dark elves to prevent them from using the aether to destroy the nine realms.”

Tony held up his hand to stop Loptr while the others were standing by watching.

“Loptr I think I might have figured out why I can’t scan your magic or why you can’t teleport back to your own world. I don’t think you just teleported to earth but to a different earth than the one you know.”

Loptr looked at him confused.

“Look calm down first, I don’t want you accidentally freezing someone’s skin off.”

Loptr nodded slowly as he forced himself to calm down.

“Sir, King Loptr’s body has returned to a safe temperature.”

“Thanks J, alright Loptr…I think you might have teleported to a different universe. Like a parallel one, Thor isn’t king of Asgard here and Odin is fine. Also you remember me mentioning Loki? Yeah that’s Thor’s younger brother.”

Loptr frowned.

“Thor has no siblings.”

“He’s adopted, more to the point is that Thor isn’t an asshole here. Plus he’s in relationship with a mortal.”

Loptr looked confused by that.

“Odin would allow him to wed a mortal? Is she a powerful mage?”

They all looked confused.

“Not that I know of.” Tony said.

“How odd…perhaps you are correct and I accidentally teleported to another universe. It shouldn’t have been possible but I was in distress when I used my magic. I fear I do not know how to return to my own universe then.”

Loptr looked disappointed as he stared at the floor.

“Thor’s probably going to be back in a few days, are you going to have an issue with him?” Natasha asked making the king look at her with a sorrowful gaze.

“If you trust him I will attempt to control my fears…but I will be unable to remain near him. Thor was quite angry with me and when he struck me with Mjolnor’s lightning he left a curse within the wound it left. It will cause me severe pain to be near his weapon.”

Steve frowned.

“Why would Thor attack you and cause that kind of damage?”

Loptr looked away ashamed.

“As I said before I failed to protect him. When we won the battle and secured the aether I returned to Asgard with its warriors to bring Odin’s body home. I was the one…I held Odin’s spear to Thor and apologized for failing to protect him. I had promised to bring Odin and the warriors home safely and I failed. I thought surely Thor would simply never wish to see me again but when I turned to leave I felt his power surge. I had barely begun turning around when he struck. Though we were of different worlds and once enemies I had thought he did not share the views of his people. That he would accept me as a Jotun mage but…in that moment I saw I was wrong. He insulted me and called me a monster. I barely remember calling upon my magic as my body ached and my heart felt as though it had been torn apart.”

Everyone was silent and eventually Loptr broke the silence as he grabbed for the controller instead of food.

“I only wish to forget the pain. I shall do what I can to return home but I fear it will take quite some time if it’s even possible. There are various universes and it will not be a simple task to return to mine instead of another parallel.”

Tony nodded as they sat in silence eating and playing video games. Eventually Clint got involved and Loptr’s eyes grew to a new size as the archer began cursing profusely. Steve had to walk away after the fifth time of reminding him of his language which did nothing. Tony was laughing loudly at the king’s shock while Natasha had dibs on winner. That of course was Loptr because the smart alien king didn’t lose.

 

~

 

 

It had been three months of Loptr living at the tower and while He and Thor couldn’t be in the same room or even remotely close to each other, the thunder god had agreed to stay either with Jane or in Asgard. He hadn’t been able to meet Loptr and was working to find a way to return the king to his own universe. In the meantime Bruce, Tony, and Loptr had found they could work together as Loptr was smart enough to quickly pick up how both science and technology worked.

When the two scientists weren’t dragging the king into their experiments, Clint was attempting to regain his title of king of video games, or Natasha and Steve were sparring with him. Loptr was much stronger than Steve and he accidentally broke Steve’s arm the first time they sparred. He’d healed it with his magic of course but he had struggled to keep his strength under control. It was a month into his stay that Fury met him and after a very long discussion the head of Shield approved of Loptr staying. He’d seemed confused by why he required the man’s approval but Tony had explained and he understood.

Loptr also understood what the avengers did but as time passed he became very protective of the group and would ensure they were alright. He healed injures after battles and while Fury wanted him only on standby he’d told Tony he could decide if they needed his aid. During the three months he’d become acquainted with the villains that fought the avengers. Dr. Doom held some magic which Loptr studied when Fury allowed him. He infused it into his doom bots and while Fury remained in control of the remains of the destroyed machines Loptr had pointed out their magic while stopped from repairing the bots was still active to record information. Fury had been angry to find out he’d brought the bots into his base unwittingly letting them record classified information. Loptr had studied the magic enough to stop them which Fury had only given a small nod of thanks.

Others of the avengers’ villains was a group called Hydra, a mutant Magento, and the most annoying of the villains Loki. Loptr actually found him entertaining when watching from afar. When Loptr had pointed out the god’s mischief was meant for fun the avengers had looked and noticed that his pranks while seemingly dangerous weren’t actually meant for causing harm. The worst of the damage was from Loki responding to strikes from the avengers.

“So the guy tries to take over the world and then suddenly he’s just doing harmless pranks that only cause damage when we get involved?” Clint asked suspiciously.

“You did mention he was the god of mischief, mischief does not mean destruction and death.”

Steve frowned as he rubbed his forehead.

“Well we still can’t let him just do what he wants. People still get injured trying to run away from whatever chaos he’s summoned.”

Loptr chuckled earning a look of disapproval from Steve.

“My apologizes, I was simply thinking of the giant hawks he summoned.”

Clint glared at Loptr who held his hands up in surrender.

“I know, no talking about him having one carry you off.”

Clint finally laughed because honestly while it wasn’t funny at the time looking back on the irony was pretty funny. While Loptr could see the humor of Loki’s pranks it didn’t stop the avengers going to stop him when he struck again. This time with giant spiders and while it had been intended to be fun the protection spell Loptr had weaved into Tony’s armor sounded to let him know he was in danger. He teleported to his side keeping himself hidden with an invisibility spell. He saw the armored warrior had been trapped beneath one of the spider’s webs. He looked up in time to see one of the spiders falling threatening to crush Tony.

He made himself visible as he caught the spider nearly collapsing to his knees under it’s weight. He was only able to stop it from crushing Tony but not able to summon the strength to throw it to the side. With it unmoving it was dead weight that he doubted he could hold for to long.

“Tony…you must move for I cannot hold this creature for long.”

If he could summon his magic he could dispel the creature as it was a construct summoned by the mage but he could not use such magic while focusing on using his strength. It was a curse of having been raised to duel wield. While he was naturally talented with magic he had refused to let his small size determined he was meant to only be a mage. He had trained and fought with the strongest warriors among the Jotun people to one day rule even should he lose his magic.

“These webs are to strong for me to get out from.” Tony said as he attempted to escape.

Loptr looked for one of his teammates but saw none of them nearby. He spotted Loki and called out to the god.

“You’re mischief is meant to be fun but killing one of this world’s heroes isn’t a joke. Please dispel your construct.”

Loki’s eyes narrowed on the king.

“Since when does this world’s heroes recruit monsters?” Loki hissed with his voice dripping with venom.

“I am no monster prince of Asgard. Please, if you wish to harm someone then let it be me. I do not wish Tony to parish, he is my friend.” Loptr attempted to plea for the mortal’s life.

Loki shot a look to the mortal man before he waved his hand to dispel the spider. Loptr thanked Loki before he used his magic to remove the webbing and grabbed the armored mortal to help him up.

“What is a frost giant doing here?” Loki asked still beyond angry seeing the king.

Tony lifted his face-plate meeting Loki’s glare.

“Don’t you dare insult him. It’s Jotun you ass.”

Loki looked truly shocked by Tony defended Loptr.

“You would defend a monster?”

Loptr sighed as he raised his hands and flicked his wrists sending a wave of magic that dispelled the remaining constructs.

“This universe is quite different but I suppose here the Aesir do not hide behind lies of false love to hide their hatred of my people. I do not know why you detest my kind so much but I am no monster. I have worked hard to ensure my people repent for their past crimes against yours.”

Loki’s face twisted in disgust and anger.

“You speak as though you better than me monster. You have done nothing to mend the damage between our realms.”

Loptr looked sadden by this.

“Not in this universe no…I do not believe I exist within this universe and I suppose that is because my father was different here. Perhaps he was not the monster I knew.”

Loki’s gaze softened a bit and Tony looked surprised to see the expression on Loki. He was letting the exchange play out knowing Loptr could handle the god if need be.

“Who are you that you come from another universe?”

Loptr stood tall in a way that showed he was royalty. Loki’s gaze hardened but he said nothing as Loptr introduced himself.

“I am Loptr Laufeyson, king of Jotunhiem.”

Loki actually paled at that. His body frozen in place until he fearfully took a step closer.

“Laufey’s son? The eldest child?”

Loptr nodded.

“Yes, I have been told you are Loki Odinson, the second prince of Asgard.”

Loki’s face twisted in disgust at the name.

“I am no son of Odin.” He hissed in anger before vanishing.

“Well, wasn’t expecting him to talk to you.” Tony said sounding honestly surprised by it.

“He has suffered great pain…even I have never forsaken my father’s name even with his many crimes. Do not be so quick to judge that man Tony…I fear it may lead to your death should not underestimate or assume with him.”

The avengers regrouped and went to report to Fury. The director of Shield didn’t look to happy hearing that Loptr had made an appearance on the battlefield or that he’d managed to chat it up with Loki.

“It was not my intention to speak with him but the Aesir and Jotun people of this universe appear to have a very strained relationship. I’m afraid if I had not been as willing speak as I was he would have attacked seriously and I do not know enough of his magic to want to fight him if I can avoid it.”

“So if he was serious you couldn’t beat him?” Fury asked looking less than happy.

Loptr looked at the director with a  curious gaze.

“I did not say that Director Fury. I simply do not wish to fight another powerful mage and risk damage to your realm. I am quite curious about the events surrounding his previous arrival to your realm. I can sense his magic and it is quite powerful. If he had truly wanted to attack and conquer your realm he should not have failed.”

Fury seemed annoyed with this while Natasha and Clint exchanged a look saying nothing but Loptr suspected they had a means to communicate without words.

“There’s a chance Loki wasn’t in control when he attacked.” Clint finally spoke.

The group looked at him making the archer uncomfortable.

“When I was under the control of the scepter I saw a bit into his head. There was…someone else. A really weird shadow of a large alien.”

Loptr frowned as he considered the archer’s words.

“I believe you might be talking about the mad titan. If that is true I am uncertain how Loki still remains sane. He would have been tearing his own mind apart to fight Thanos’s control.”

“Who is Thanos and why do you think Loki was controlled?”

Loptr looked at the group before he turned to Tony.

“You mentioned having record of the scepter?”

He nodded pulling out his phone to pull up the information. Fury protested showing Loptr the information but Tony ignored him. Loptr took a look at the scans and footage of Loki using the scepter.

“Ah, it appears your realm has had the misfortune to suffer the effects of the mind stone. It is one of the infinity stones and while Loki is beyond that of mortals even he would have fallen to its power.”

“We’re going to need a full explanation.” Fury said crossing his arms over his chest like it made him look more intimidating.

“Very well, the infinity stones are six very powerful objects that predate the universe itself. I believe most or all the various parallel universes have their own stones but they cannot cross over universes like people can. From what I can tell Loki saved your realm along with the others.”

The group stared shocked and speechless.

“I said he might not have been himself, I didn’t say he saved the entire universe.” Clint snapped when he recovered.

“I know what you said. The scepter contains the mind stone and what you call the tesseract is the space stone. If your universe and mine exist in the same passage of time then at the time of his attack the aether which is the reality stone would still have been in your realm and I believe the time stone is in the protective hands of Midgard’s mages. Had Loki not fought the titan’s control he would have had four of the six stones which would have left little chance that Thanos would have failed to destroy the nine realms to offer it’s occupants lives to his lover, Mistress Death. I assume Thanos is still alive if you do not know of him which means Loki has simply earned you some time.”

“So this guy wants to destroy the universe and you’re saying by killing a lot of people Loki earned us time to prepare?” Natasha asked showing her disbelief which was odd for her.

“It is merely what I can see of the events I’ve been shown. As I had mentioned my people and those of Asgard fought the dark elves when they sought the aether. The reason for them finding the reality stone was because Thanos had told them and used their forces to gain what he wanted. I doubt they realized they were aiding in him destroying the entire universe but the dark elves had their own desires for destruction that clouded their judgement.”

“I’m not going to believe that Loki wasn’t seriously trying to conquer our world.” Fury said in a tone that said it wasn’t up for debate.

“Tony, you mentioned the portal opened over your city. How big was it?”

Tony tried to think a moment before he decided just to show Loptr the recording he had. The king hummed as he looked over the footage.

“I know for certain Loki did not seriously attempt to rule your realm. He bought you time and the fact he didn’t use the space stone to its full capacity is proof.”

“What’s it’s full capacity?” Tony asked eager to know more about something they had barely scratched the surface of.

“Well he certainly could have opened multiple portals or an even larger one that would have torn open your skies to allow the army to pour into your realm within seconds and over various cities instead of only one.”

The avengers were silent considering how badly the entire thing could have gone. Tony was already gathering all the information he had to look it over and confirm. The avengers were still silent as they returned to the tower and Loptr was dragged to the lab with Tony to see what else he could tell the inventor of the stones.

Loptr was further explaining the stones when a simmer of green and gold announced they had a visitor.

“Welcome prince Loki.” Loptr greeted while Tony looked up and paused before going back to his task.

“You would ignore me mortal? Do you wish to be thrown through another window?”

Tony grinned.

“Don’t think you’ll do that now that you don’t have the ugly ass mad titan making you ride shotgun to your own head.”

Loki frowned as he shot a look to Loptr.

“You told them of the mind stone?”

“Of course, it was quite obvious and I have faced my share of Thanos’s armies…I have lost much because of him but I never had my own mind turned against me.”

Loki paused looking at the Jotun king before he stepped closer.

“You said you are Laufey’s son. Did he raise you?”

Loptr thought the question odd but nodded.

“In a sense, he thought he could control me and my magic but he failed.”

“How so?” Loki questioned further as he again took a step closer.

“When I was strong enough to travel the realms I sought out Odin’s help. I did not have the means to remove my father from the throne and his continued need for more power and revenge against the Aesir for a war he started was only harming my people. With Odin’s help I took the throne and my people had begun mending the damage between us and the Aesir…that was until I failed to protect Odin in battle.”

Tony’s hand found his and Loptr gave him a gentle smile as thanks. He had continued to blame himself for Odin’s death and the constant reminder in the form of the wound on his side was doing little to stop that.

“Man of iron, you see no problem with his appearance? He is a frost giant runt and yet you befriend him and treat him your equal?”

Loptr’s eyes widened before his anger sparked around him threatening to freeze the room.

“How dare you claim me a runt and monster. You know nothing of my people so do not speak of me as though you do.” Loptr hissed at the god making Tony’s eyes widened.

“Holy shit…you sounded…kind of like Loki.”

Loptr’s gaze widened as he looked at Tony before the god.

“Impossible, I would never become a hateful creature like this.”

Loki glared at him.

“Oh really? Not even if your birth father abandoned you to die because you are a runt? Not even if you spent your entire life being made promises to find out everything is a lie? That you are a monster your own brother claims to wish to destroy yet sudden proclaims false love even when he finds out you are the very thing he wishes to destroy?”

Loptr tilts his head studying the god as Toy watches the two.

“I know of promises and lies. I know of false love when the reality is the one who proclaims loves hides a secret hatred for the monster he made such claims towards. In my universe…I am a king and I was to wed Asgard’s next king. Thor…the one you call brother…I was to be his mate to unite our realms officially. I was happy with this arrangement though Thor was not as intelligent as I would hope in a partner, he was strong and my mother knew his family well and spoke highly of the boy that would one day be king. When I failed to save Odin and return him home safely as I promised…I learned I was never anything more than a monster in my betroth's eyes. He struck me with his hammer’s power and left me with a curse to remind me I am a monster incapable of being loved.” Loptr touched his arm wincing in pain as the wound still hurt. “I will not forget that love is a lie…but I will not allow it to turn me into a hateful creature like you.”

“Asgard’s royal family has never been friends with frost giants. You speak lies.” Loki hissed taking yet another step closer.

“I speak no lies as I never claimed before my encounter with Odin that any of his family had contact with the Jotun people. My mother was a friend of Queen Frigga…she was an Aesir mage who had terrible taste in bed partners but something about Laufey had interested her enough to bear his child.”

Loki’s eyes widened.

“Half Aesir?”

Loptr nodded.

“It is why I am capable of naturally wielding magic of both the Aesir and Jotun as well as my unusually small size even for a mage from Jotunhiem. I had wondered why you did not comment of my odd appearance when you seem to know of the Jotun people. Did you not wonder why I do not look like any others?”

Loki frowned searching the king’s gaze for a lie. He didn’t seem to see one as he sighed.

“I know nothing of my people and I did not know that my true mother was Aesir.”

Loptr raised a brow as he finally reached out for Loki. Upon contact Loki’s pale skin faded allowing his true appearance to show. Loki’s eyes filled with a mixture of sorrow and hatred as his body changed completely to that of the Jotun prince he’d been born as.

“Oh wow…wasn’t expecting that. So Loptr you’re…”

“It appears in your universe I am known as Loki. I can see now where our realms differ. My mother once told me she had consider asking her friend Frigga to have her and her husband to take me in for fear of Laufey harming me. While in my universe I remained with my father it seems that here mother did in fact leave me in the temple for Odin to raise. I believe her plan was for me to never know the cruelty my father was capable of…it was not the harm he did to me that pushed me to kill him…my brothers suffered and I failed to save my youngest brother.”

Loki met his counterpart’s gaze.

“Would you have rather lived a lie?”

Loptr smiled sadly.

“Perhaps, Laufey was a cruel father who knew nothing of love. I was raised to be an obedient weapon and for many years I hated my magic because it only brought me pain. I suppose I can be thankful for one thing from my life…running from Thor brought to this wonderful realm.”

Loki followed Loptr’s gaze to where Tony stood.

“I must return to my own universe when I can but Loki…this mortal is special. If you and I are anything alike you will grow to care for him as I have. Whatever you believe you know of the Jotun people know this, outside the world Laufey attempted to create they treasure those of unique origins. When I had stopped hating my magic I found it was a rare gift among our people that is treasured as sacred. Tony is quite a unique mortal and I have never met another with such a level of intelligence.”

Tony was full on blushing.

“Don’t try and play match maker Loptr.”

Loptr grinned at Tony.

“I would not need to if I could bring you with me to my universe but I fear my realm is not suitable for a human.”

Tony hit his head against his worktable. Loptr laughed and Loki raised a brow.

“You are insane if you think I will attempt to court this mortal. He is weak and his life is but a blink in time to me.”

Loptr leaned closer whispering in Loki’s ear. His eyes widened as he looked at Tony who was now staring in curiosity.

“Well, perhaps not. I suppose I could spare some of my time to see if this mortal is worthy of a god.”

Tony groaned.

“Loptr I have to much ego for there to be room for Loki’s.”

Loki ignored the mortal as he looked to his counterpart.

“I do have a spell that will return you to your own universe. I believe it is our magic being used without proper thought at the same time that brought you to this universe.”

“What were you doing that you weren’t thinking properly with your magic?”

Loki looked annoyed as he finally allowed his Aesir appearance to return.

“It’s not important.”

Tony was interested now.

“Maybe he was fantasizing about me? Since apparently I attract Lokis of all universes.”

Loki looked away instead of glaring at the mortal which made Tony freeze in shock.

“Oh shit, were you actually thinking of me?”

“You were being a fool and reckless.” Loki countered reminding him of a fight with Doom that one of the bots that had nearly struck him vanished without a trace.

Loki must have been thinking of him though he wasn’t sure how he’d attracted the god’s attention. Still he couldn’t deny Loki looked good in either form. Though he did like Loptr’s hair better mostly because the king let him tug on it to get his attention when he was too deep in thought.

Loki and Loptr discussed the spell for a bit before Loptr turned to Tony.

“The spell should work. I suppose I should say my goodbyes to your team?”

Tony nodded looking uneasy.

“I guess, it’s been fun having you here. I’m sure Brucie bear and I will just have to do science without our third member.”

Loptr gave a playful grin.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. Bruce will probably enjoy only having one refer to him as Brucie bear.”

Tony grinned and while the two were talking missed Loki staring fondly at the inventor. Loptr’s goodbyes to the other avengers made them either confused or sad to see him leave. When the final goodbyes were done Loki appeared making them suddenly all stand ready to fight. Loki rolled his eyes as he turned to his counterpart.

“Hopefully you will not have issues with my idiotic brother when you return. He is weak against magic so if you must fight I suggest you use that.”

Loptr smiled sadly knowing he would not fight Thor.

“Be well Loki. Even with the differences between us you still did good in protecting the nine realms.”

Loptr placed a hand on Loki’s shoulder to give his shoulder a gentle squeeze. The prince looked slightly uncomfortable but nodded as he summoned his magic. The portal that opened led straight to Jotunhiem and the icy winds blowing through the portal began turning Loki’s skin blue.

“I do not think I will ever get use to this form…”

“It has its advantages. The means the Aesir use to seal magic do not work on Jotun magic.”

With that Loptr returned to his universe leaving the avengers to wonder what the hell had happened. Loki stared at the group with little interest before he turned his full attention to Tony.

“So, apparently my counterpart thinks you are worthy of my time and affection. Care to prove him right?”

Tony ran a hand down his face before he raised a brow curious if he could pull this off in a way that made everyone happy.

“If I attempt to prove him right you don’t attack this world and you limit your mischief to the tower as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.”

Loki looked interested.

“Hmm…as long as you keep my interest very well. Does harming include hurting their feelings because my tricks often do.”

Tony chuckled.

“No you’re good, you’ll fit in perfect with me and Clint. Anyways be ready tomorrow and make yourself pretty, I’m taking you out on a date.”

“Tony, you can’t date a villain.” Steve insisted.

“Oh? So you want to jeopardize the safety of our world because it wouldn’t be right for a hero to date a villain?”

Steve didn’t get the chance to say anything as an arrow flew towards Loki. He caught it giving Clint a look as though to ask if he was serious. Tony grab the spray bottle from the table next the couch and sprayed Clint a few times.

“Bad Clint, we don’t be mean to guests.”

Clint hissed before disappearing into a nearby vent. Loki actually burst out laughing. Honestly Tony had started it as a joke which Clint went along with but hearing Loki laugh he was going to keep spraying Clint when he acted out.

“J, let it be stated on the record that Loki has an adorable laugh.”

“Of course Sir.” The AI replied and Tony could swear if JARVIS had eyes they would have been rolled as he made the comment.

Tony wandered off leaving the spray bottle as he had a few more hidden around the tower in case of Clint. It really wasn’t any different than Nat hiding knives around the tower or his occasional misplaced snack. Either way he got Loki to laugh and to stop being a villain for as long as he could keep the god entertained. Who better to do that than the billionaire who could arrange every possible way to entertain a god?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
